Author: Wandering Amerrickans

August 16- Solitude

This morning’s weather was as bad as yesterday plus a whole lot of wind to go with it. Back in April, I scored a lottery pass to Denali to be able to drive our car the extra 15 miles into the park that is normally not open to the public, but seeing as the weather was even worse and there was no hope to see the mountain, we decided to blow it off.

We had a full day in front of us anyhow so the extra time would come in handy. We made a quick stop for some sweets, then on to a place that was recommended by George to grab sandwiches to eat in the car- all was delicious!

Our drive today was across the 130 mile Denali Highway, with the first 110 miles being dirt. This is a road that is off limits to most rental cars unless, like us, you rent from a local dealer that allows it. It was the beginning of hunting season and we had been warned that there would be a lot of local traffic but there was nary a car the whole way.

The good news is the rain stopped but the low clouds never fully lifted. What we could see of the scenery was beyond magnificent; it truly is incredible to have mountains completely surrounding you but to have it that way nor 100 plus miles at the least!

We stopped at one point to let Billy fish one of the picture perfect streams that flowed through the vast tundra. Within a bit less than an hour, he caught three large graylings.

The entire 130 mile crossing took us almost six hours, with stops, including the second highest mountain pass in Alaska at 4,086’; it was very nice for me as Jenny drove almost the entire way.

(Scenes from along the highway):

After exiting the Denali Highway, we got caught up in some of the most massive highway construction projects I have ever seen. The Richardson Highway that runs north to south on the east side of Anchorage was quite incredible. As far as we could see, there were pine forests. And for the first time, we saw the Trans- Atlantic pipeline which runs 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean- a wild scene to see this massive oil pipeline snaking through the forests.

When I was trying to make hotel reservations for this night, there was a lot that went into the consideration. There were very few options available that were within reason as far as time, distance and covid requirements. Most of the places I tried were closed for this year, so I ended up booking at a historic lodge that actually got fairly decent reviews, but I warned Billy and Jenny that I was quite nervous for the stay.

We checked in at the bar where we met the owners and grabbed a basic meal. The owners couldn’t have been nicer and we really enjoyed talking with them. He was an Army officer stationed here before they bought the lodge. The place is now for sale as they are planning on moving back to the Fort Worth Area.

When we got to our cabin, it was certainly a throwback to at least the 1950s.

All was good, we could deal with the spiders, the lack of an operating smoke detector and the generally more-than-well-worn feeling but it all came to an abrupt halt for me when a mouse ran across my path- an Alaskan size mouse. Anyone who knows me knows, I don’t do rodents- they carry a million diseases; Billy always jokes we should invest in the expanding foam spray company because I am constantly filling gaps to try and stop them from entering my homes.

Well sh@t… 11:00 at night – in the middle of nowhere… no choice but to suck it up. I hope dawn comes soon because come first light, we are out of here!

August 15 – Grizzly Highway

Keeping with the theme of a morning weather report… Today was one of the worst. We received a weather alert for 1-2” of rain including threats of mudslides and landslides. Not a good start.

Our plans for the day were already locked in at a solid eight hours. We had 10:00 tickets to ride the bus into Denali National Park; the only way in and out, outside of a bush plane or a pack raft. The ride is done in an old converted school bus making a few stops along the dirt road for a bathroom break if need be but there was nothing else available ie, water, food, etc.

The skies were spitting at 10:00 however the cloud layer allowed for some vistas and while we couldn’t see any peaks, we could see that the mountains had received their first dusting of snow overnight. The temperature this morning was a balmy 43 degrees, not what we had expected but at least we were prepared for it. Last week it was 85 degrees.

Our bus driver, Dale, has been driving for 27 years. He was a bit gruff but there was some humor thrown in; he did however take covid precautions very seriously and was on top of any mask slackers. He made the rules clear and simple – keep your hands and heads inside the bus at all times, if we come across an animal we need to stay quiet and bear spray and guns need to be inside your packs.

The initial 30 plus miles was uneventful but everything changed soon thereafter. The cloud layers lifted allowing us to see across the valleys, the rain stopped and there was sunshine lighting up the distant hills and mountains.

The first animals we encountered was a small herd of caribou. These caribou had HUGE racks, really incredible in fact. Caribou are cool in that both the male and female have antlers, the only member of the deer family that do, but the females antlers are generally smaller and more irregular. Based on that, these caribou were clearly male!

The next big moment we had was at an area called Polychrome Pass. This is an area of the park that is both scenically beautiful but also geologically impressive. It is an area of massive rockslides that frequently causes problems for engineers. Today, there was some heavy machinery up there trying to stabilize a section of the road that is only wide enough for one bus (yes. I kid you not. And the busses don’t use any radio to communicate so if you come around a corner and meet another bus… trust me… it’s more than scary). The road is sliding down the mountain- in 2018 alone it dropped 12 feet over the course of the year due to shrinking permafrost. Just a few weeks ago the road was shut for hours as the road slumped, stranding busses for hours on both sides.

The colors and vistas at Polychrome Pass are amazing but again, it was all very limited in its scope. I could however easily see the valley floor below over the road edge that was maybe 2 feet from the bus- I can assure you I did some controlled breathing to get through it. Holy cow, this road made the road up to Machu Picchu look like a walk in the park. I am absolutely amazed this is a road in America.

Denali National Park’s vastness was certainly made evident as we drove on. It is the third largest national park at roughly 6,000,000 acres (about the size of New Hampshire).

Our first bear encounter happened maybe 2 1/2 hours in. A large grizzly foraging on blueberries a few hundred yards off the road. We stopped to watch it for quite some time; Dale having to remind the group in the back to stay quiet and keep their hands in the window. Jenny was thrilled, even if it was a bit far away. Crazy thing was recognizing how big these bears are but how tiny it was sitting there in the immensity of Denali NP.

The last stop and turn around was Eileson Visitor Center, closed still from covid. This is where you should get an incredible view of Denali Mountain but by now it was raining and getting foggy. What we did see which was pretty cool was Muldrow Glacier now in an historic surge which began last year; it is currently moving between 30-60 feet per day! We could make out the glacier and the new surge of broken and blackened ice chunks.

By the time the bus left it was raining pretty good and the windows were mud coated reducing visibility to near zero. I was so bummed that all of the incredible views and the one thing Jenny had asked to do in Alaska, to see Denali, wasn’t to be. All this glorious wilderness was only partially available to the eye – very frustrating but that’s nature and that’s Alaska. Jenny did point out we had seen a bear and that had made her happy.

Dale had narrated the whole ride up but had said he wouldn’t be doing so on the return. He said sometimes taking in nature in silence is much better so we looked forward to doing just that; however the family group in the back had no intentions of it. They talked and talked and talked – loudly. Billy and Jenny put their ear buds in while the woman sitting g across the aisle from me rolled her eyes.

As we summited a hill we found two busses stopped; they were looking at bears. We pulled up but couldn’t see them as we were blocked in by the other busses. Dale patiently waited and waited while everyone grew a bit frustrated until the busses left giving us a perfect view of a mama and her two year old cub foraging for blueberries. They were much closer than the other bear and as we sat and watched (with Dale constantly having to tell the group in the back to quiet down and not put their hands out the window), we were thrilled! The bears continued to move closer and closer and just about this time I heard something hit the ground outside the bus. I turned back to hear this guy (the one guy who has needed constant reminders) say he had dropped his phone outside the window. I couldn’t help but crack up, and then tell Jenny who also began to crack up followed by Billy. The bears were literally maybe 20 feet off the front of the bus – we were in row 2 with row 1 being blocked off so we had a perfect view!

At this point, the guy in the back had to make the walk of shame up to tell Dale his phone was laying on the ground. It was all very comical as there were two grizzlies right there ( not to mention a mama with her cub- a no go) so did he think Dale was going to open the bus doors and say sure, go get it?

We continued to watch the bears until they crossed right in front of us and then quickly disappeared over a ridge on the other side. Wow! Wow! Wow! It was beyond amazing and we were beyond ecstatic. It certainly made up for the incredibly crappy weather we have had!

I was glad to see that the road at Polychrome Pass was still intact and prayed it remained that way while we crossed back over – at only twenty feet wide with a sheer 500 foot drop off, hairpin turns in driving rain I hung my head low, breathed hard and received a consoling pat from Jenny.

One last stop and I got out to clean the windows so we could see better. Jenny joined me as we wiped and wiped. Dale came around the bus with a squeegee to help out and turned to me and said, “I hope you don’t find this offensive or strange but your daughter is stunningly beautiful. I hope you don’t mind me saying so. My mother always told me to tell it like I see it, so I just did.” I, of course, told him no offense at all and told him she is just as stunningly beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

The clean windows only lasted for maybe a mile and the remainder of the two hours felt like a suicide mission with the family constantly talking, at one point the mother asking her children if they wanted to play 20 questions- both myself and the lady next to me verbally said, “Oh God. No.” She went on to suggest they should play “the quiet game.” She turned to me and said, “This is what happens when kids are hooked on electronics; they need constant entertainment when there are none available.”

In the end, the eight hours was worth it. I had concerns Jenny and I would get horribly motion sick but we were OK. The views we did see were incredible and the bears were fantastic. Jenny said she would just have to come back – to finish a hike and to see Denali.

We Survived the Train Wreck

Morning dawned with heavily cloudy skies again. We were in a bit of a rush to start our way north as we had to drop Billy off for the second day of fishing I had lined up for him and it was 130 miles north. We preordered breakfast from Conscious Coffee and made our way out of town.

The clouds were heavy as we traveled north but we could see that there were a few breaks happening. We commented that had we been traveling in this proximity to Yellowstone, the traffic would be unbearable but we had barely any company on the roads.

We made one stop, at the Denali Scenic View North, and sure enough, we saw the peak of the mighty mountain again! It was crazy that within a few minutes it disappeared again. Yesterday, Billy’s fishing guide told him he might see the mountain twice a month. I have read statistically that you only have a 20% chance of actually seeing the mountain – seeing as we have seen one of the peaks twice (there is a north and south but I don’t know which one we have been seeing), I think we are doing pretty good!

We met up with Billy’s guide, George – a science teacher that spends the school year in way upstate NY, and his summers guiding in Alaska. We wished them luck, and Jenny and I continued our trek north for our scheduled afternoon whitewater rafting.

About 15 miles into our 30 mile drive, it started to pour, and I mean pour. We watched as the outside temperature gauge dropped from 54 to 44. The wind picked up and as we reached our destination we were trying to reassure ourselves that not only could we handle the cold but we could handle the class IV rapids we were about to undertake (mind you we have only run class II up until this point).

We grabbed some flatbread pizza for lunch, eating it in the car as the restaurant only offered to go, while Jenny chatted with Thies on Facetime. We were laughing with him that Jenny is 0 for 2 in staying in a canoe so we were hoping that was not going to carry over to the raft!

We were going to be rafting the Nenana River, a glacial river that forms from the Nenana Glacier. It runs north, dumping into the Tanana River which runs into the Yukon River, eventually ending up in the Arctic Ocean. It averages a summer temperature of 31.8 degrees – hypothermic inducing in minutes.

Jenny and I were layered well- two pairs of wool socks, leggings under rain pants, moisture wicking base layer followed by three Patagonia layers- capilene, down, and a waterproof shell. We also had on beanie caps and wind blocking Patagonia gloves. We were perfectly toasty inside our dry suits! We watched as people showed up in cotton socks, sweatpants and sweatshirts (there was no wonder they were freezing half way through the float).

We took a quick drive to the input – an absolutely incredible sight to watch as they dropped the boats a few hundred feet down a cliff, our oarsman actually walking them down an almost 90 degree incline!

We received the requisite safety speech and I of course was having second thoughts, especially after the part about making sure if you fall out to get your feet up quickly so they don’t get wedged under the water on anything, but my steady eddie assured me it would all be fine.

Whitewater is graded on an internationally recognized scale by the American Whitewater Association. Rapids are classified on a scale of I-VI; I being very very tame and VI being holy sh@t; commercial operators can only run up to class V – we were going to be hitting a few class IVs – no big deal, right?

We hit the river running and after a few, “Forwards!” was hollered at us paddlers, we were informed that, “our first rapid would be coming up.” Uhm… what the heck were those pretty darn sizable dips we just went through? The ones he was yelling at us to paddle through and that absolutely doused us, I asked. “Those,” he told me, “were just the warm up.” Oh geezus, you must be kidding me.

Jenny turned and said, “Oh boy, the guide in the boat behind us just put on his helmet.” That was the forewarnings what was to come.

We rounded the bend and head first we went into a pretty substantial rapid. The bow paddlers went down hard and then came up and we were all drenched. And so it went – paddle hard, bow down, wave up, paddlers drenched.

Eventually we hit a rapid named Train Wreck that was a bit different. A series of waves that got progressively bigger. At one point I was staring up at a wall of water, we were nearly vertical and I realized I was frantically paddling the air as my oar wasn’t reaching the water. “Oh God. Please! Stay in the boat,” I hollered over to Jenny as we were whipped up and down.

Emerging victorious from the jaws of Train Wreck our guide, Anthony, said that this was the first run of the summer that he basically had an, “Oh shit” moment. He said we hit this rapid harder than he has all summer; the bow went down so deep it launched his ass off the seat where he was in the back of the raft, and he was basically staring straight down at us thinking the front paddler was done for as he lost his foot holds. How he stayed in without having his feet wedged, I have no idea.

The canyon was beautiful and the sunshine was filtering through the clouds, quickly warming everything it touched. Anthony informed us that the trip would end after a few more bends but the rapids were done and so if anyone wanted to be crazy enough to jump in go ahead. And wouldn’t you know, in went Jenny, floating along on her back, peacefully down the river.

The rafting was a blast! We had so much fun. We kept saying we hoped Billy was catching fish because if not, he will be so bummed to have missed out on having so much fun!

We hauled ass north ten miles to check in to our airbnb and let Jenny get into some dry clothes (the neck gaiter on the dry suit must not have been perfectly sealed to her skin as she had some water trickle in). Then headed back south for 40 miles to pick up Billy.

We found him sitting on the porch of George’s house, drinking a beer, overlooking the most gorgeous view. George quickly handed me a beer and told me that Billy had killed it today- he caught over 40 grayling at least. It had been a spectacular day!!! The experience was amazing too he said. They canoed (good thing Jenny wasn’t with them) across some bold water to hike back to some smaller creeks – all the time keeping bear spray in their hand. An epic day for sure!

We left George and headed back north again to make our 8:30 dinner reservation at 49th State Brewing Company, pulling in right on time. The restaurant has the replica bus that was used for filming the movie, “Into the Wild,” the true story about Chris McCandless, a young kid who lived and died out in the Alaskan bush in an abandoned bus he found not too far from where we were sitting. It is Jenny’s favorite book and of course one of her favorite movies – she is drawn to the story, or perhaps the way of life. The real bus was airlifted out a few years back as people were getting hurt and even dying trying to reach it. It is now at a museum in Fairbanks, but the replica is good. It gave Jenny chills to be inside it, she said.

Alaska certainly has that draw, the one that lead Chris here in the first place. It is magnificent and maybe it’s the weather we have encountered that makes it almost hauntingly appealing. Billy already said he could live here, of course he hadn’t experienced winter here. Jenny, I am sure, could van life it here for a long time. I imagine we will return for sure, once retirement rolls around. In the meantime we have a few more days here, to soak up the beauty, and to literally get soaked!

August 13 – Homestead History

Another cloudy morning…Argh! I drove Billy 45 minutes south to drop him to meet his fishing guide then turned around and drove back. By the time I got back, Jenny was showered and ready to head out. We had no plans for the day except to check out Talkeetna and do a little shopping and eating.

As soon as we rounded the corner of Main Street, Jenny was in love. There was a cute park, a poke bowl place, an ice cream shop and an adorable coffee shop (named Mimi’s cheese haus). The main street was lined with historic buildings turned into hip gift shops and yummy food joints. There were clearly tourists running about but nothing like we saw in Homer and where Homer felt kitschy, Talkeetna felt revitalized and real.

We enjoyed shopping for some souvenirs and gifts to take home. We especially loved the small outdoor marketplace that was set up where locals were selling their handcrafted wares. I got a lesson on knives, (of all things right?) that was certainly very geared towards Alaskan hunting.

After doing some shopping, Jenny and I grabbed some delicious halibut tacos from a really cute taco truck. The only thing is they were fairly small so we were still hungry and decided to split a fried shrimp poke bowl, also delicious.

I told Jenny about an ATV tour I had read about, that was run by the brother of our host and she said it sounded like fun, so we booked the 4:00 tour. We then walked around the outlying neighborhood checking out some of the historical structures that have been preserved.

I especially loved the one that the guy had died in 1975 and with no heirs the cabin was boarded up. The historical society purchased the building from the town and when they opened it up c.2000- it was like a time capsule- everything still in its place- tins in the cupboard, clothes lying on the bed, etc.

With 45 minutes before our tour started and the skies clearing a bit, I suggested to Jenny we take a quick drive to see if Denali was visible at all, and wouldn’t you know. Jenny had to point its summit out to me because it was hurting up above the clouds but because it is totally snow covered, it blended in perfectly with the clouds. It was super cool to see it that way.

We got to the tour with about 10 minutes to spare when Billy texted saying he was on his way back – about three hours earlier than we had expected him. He caught no trout (he did catch salmon but that wasn’t what he was fishing for) and decided to cut his losses. He said he’d love to join us, if there was room, and in the nick of time he joined us!

The couple leading the tour were a hoot and their German Shepherd, Bosco, was too sweet!

The tour started off driving through the streets of Talkeetna. We then had to go over a bridge that spans the river (the bridge being 38 inches wide, the ATV being 35 inches wide), we were basically bouncing off the sides!

We continued for another 6 or 7 miles until we arrived at the summer home of our tour leaders. Dennis parents arrived here in 1959 with five children. They homesteaded 115 acres, building an 8’x12’ “house” with an upstairs loft that all five children slept in. The original cabin is now in disrepair and he has since built himself a modern log cabin that runs off a generator as it is off the grid. The location is spectacular- in the absolute middle of nowhere, only reached by ATVs in the summer or snow machines (as they call a snowmobile in Alaska) in the winter. So so cool!

All three of us really enjoyed this tour. As Billy put it, “I thought I would enjoy it, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.” We appreciated how personal it was and the stories that came with it.

Once back in town, we hustled over to the brewpub to grab dinner. We loved that so many establishments had live music and that there was a band playing at the town park. There is a definite vibe in Talkeetna, one that we all really like.

More scenes from around town:

Another heavily cloudy day with no visibility beyond a couple 100 foot high ceiling. We drove the 20 miles back to Seward, stopping at Seavey’s Ididaride to see if we could tour the dog kennels and snuggle some puppies but the tour was 1 1/2 hours long and we didn’t have enough time before our wildlife tour of Resurrection Bay was to begin.

The backup plan was to go to the Alaska Sea Life Center so we headed over there. We only spent maybe 45 minutes, but it was fun to see the seals, sea lions, puffins, etc and all the undersea creatures.

We had rescheduled our tour for today from a few days ago. It was to be a shorter cruise than the six hour we had originally planned and was to only stay in Resurrection Bay looking for marine mammals, therefore the size of the seas would not play as much of a roll.

As we began the boarding process we donned our masks and were surprised no one else was, as federal guidelines for all public transportation was still in effect that masks must be worn. The person checking us in told us our assigned seat assignments and then told us every seat was sold out and so we would be sharing the table cubicle with others. Wait… what? Every seat sold out? Not a single mention of masks? And we could expect to be seated across a table from total strangers who are or aren’t vaccinated and/or are or aren’t wearing a mask? You have got to be kidding me!

Yesterday Billy got a call that someone he works closely with (who has been vaccinated since January) got Covid and it took him and his 20-something daughter down- hard, like real hard!

I know this is Alaska (aka the Last Frontier). I know and respect we Americans love our liberties ( we are them) but enough is enough. There we were sitting – the only people wearing masks- listening to the guy behind us hack and I mean hack, then suck his snot up, then blow his snot out along with what sounded like a section of his lung and this went on for five minutes. I actually went and spoke to the captain and she informed me that they would “remind” passengers before we set sail that they were supposed to mask up but they could not personally call anyone out if they chose not to.

Needless to say, we were pissed, and uncomfortable and we decided to cut our losses. A shame as we would have enjoyed the ride but not at the expense of our health nor the satisfaction of those who are selfish enough to disregard federal mandates and demonstrate they care about nobody but themselves (and yes… I just said it)!

So they literally had to unlock the aft door and drop the gangplank for us to disembark- and frankly- it was one of the best decisions we have ever made while traveling. That boat ride was going to be nothing short of a super spreader event and we had no interest in being part of it!

We walked out on the docks and decided it was time to regroup once again… and come up with a new game plan. The good news is that the three of us are used to changing plans, tossing around new ideas and being spontaneous. We change our plans a lot, and while some may see us as wishy washy, we see it as constantly improving our skills of being flexible and adaptable- traits that allow you to comfortably travel in uncertain places, in uncertain times and still have fun and feel safe. Rigidity doesn’t work for us: it only sets you up for disappointment.

Seeing as it was just about lunchtime, we decided on the BBQ joint that Billy had nixed day before yesterday. And my oh my… what a great decision. The owner was a real gem! The food was off the charts! And the IPA Billy had was tinged with Kodiak Island pine! The whole place was outdoors and just as we sat down, the sun popped out for a few minutes! Pure perfection!

Following lunch, we retraced 40 miles of highway we had already crossed three times previously, we stopped to check for bears at the creek with the salmon (no bears), we stopped for ice cream and wished we could see the mountain tops in all their magnificence…

We stopped north of Anchorage for coffee and poke bowls to go – restaurants have been completely understaffed and stretched thin this year or, they just haven’t been able to open, making dining out here, beyond difficult.

By the time we reached Talkeetna, our destination for the next two nights, we were beat. It rained almost the entire 240 miles, stopping just as we reached the Talkeetna junction (about 15 miles from our lodging). It is so strange knowing that a 20,000 foot mountain is standing right in front of us and we can’t see it!

Our cabin was cozy and we enjoyed talking to the owner and his summer helper who hailed from Montenegro (one of a very few lucky students that was able to enter the US on a J-1 visa this year). They were headed out in the bush, and we had a good discussion about the very large sidearm he carried (a 44 magnum with a 7” barrel) and how he considered it is as basically “insurance.” He said he carried it to protect himself against black bears, not grizzlies – which I found surprising (We have now crossed the geographic line that defines a brown bear from a grizzly bear), because, as he said, “black bears were so unpredictable.” When I asked him what he meant, he couldn’t really elaborate… but Jenny could. She explained, “Mom… look… a black bear is unpredictable because if they stumble upon you they are gonna take a minute or two to decide if they are gonna eat you. A grizzly? There’s no deciding. If they stumble upon you… they are definitely gonna eat you!” I laughed my ass off at her oh-so-simple deduction on this Alaskan’s thought process! And you know? I bet you she’s right!

But… as he said… the chances your “insurance” even helps you out when you have hundreds of pounds of angry muscle running 35 miles per hour at you, and you have to unholster, aim, and shoot with a single bullet? Forget about it- you don’t stand a chance. But hey… it is nice to say you have insurance!

August 11 – Where are the Bears?

This morning brought rainy skies, low clouds and a prediction of it not letting up, at all. Needless to say, the hike back to the Harding Icefield was not happening.

We had a very leisurely morning, letting Jenny sleep in until 10:00 as between fighting the cold and a headache yesterday that didn’t seem to want to retreat, no matter how much medication we fed her, I thought some extra sleep would be a good idea!

By the time we made it out the door it was 12:30. We had decided to head north to a town called Hope that sits on the coast of Turnagin Arm (the same large body of water we drove around the day we left Anchorage). Hope is an historic town that came to be from the gold rush and because it is 15 miles on a dead end off the highway, it doesn’t get a lot of visitors.

As we were driving, we also decided to make a slight detour ( a 20 mile one) to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where they have native animals that have been rescued but can’t be released back into the wild. The weather had turned worse and was now hovering around 50 degrees with a steady downpour and stiff winds.

On Jenny’s wishlist of things she had hoped to see coming to Alaska, had only been otters. After seeing lots of them, she has now focused on bears. While there was one on the edge of the trail, we didn’t actually see much of him so she is still on the lookout. I figured this was at least a start and seeing as we have looked for them but not found them yet, we could always say, “we saw bears in Alaska.”

The enclosures for the bears are huge; they could easily hide out and never have to see a human, if they so choose- the way it really should be. But, luckily for us, they were hanging out close enough for us to see them up front and personal. We have never seen a brown bear ( basically a grizzly but a bit larger, living along the coast and feeding on salmon mostly) and only seen grizzlies in the distance or at a rehabilitation center so this was a first. When you really look at the size of it- how huge their head is, or even just their nose, you certainly gain an appreciation for their strength. One of them had us cracking up, scratching his belly on the logs (though it looked like he was doing something else).

The black bear was huge and reminded us of Lily… We used to call her our “bear” as she reminded us of one with her thick fur coat and soulful eyes. It made us a bit sad as her passing is still so fresh in our minds and raw in our hearts. Jenny thought the bears all seemed sad; it was hard not to disagree and while these animals are now captive, they would not have survived in the wild otherwise.

We also got a kick out of the porcupine. I had seen one in Greer before but not up as close as this guy. He was so cute, eating peas for his lunch.

The Center certainly gives you a good overview of the animals, plus we all learned a thing or two. First off we were all surprised at how small musk oxen are in size and how equally small their horns are – I had always pictured them bison-size.

Caribou are also smaller than I thought and are not double hoofed like a deer but have lots of toes. But most impressive and shocking to all of us was that there is another bison species that is native to North America – the wood bison. Wood bison were originally found in parts of Alaska and western Canada, they are larger than the plains bison with their hump noticeably bigger. They were thought to be extinct by the early to mid 1900’s before a small herd was found in NW Canada in the late 1950’s. An ongoing project has led to a captive breeding program here at the Center, and they have since placed a new herd in the wilds of Alaska. We love this sort of story so the hefty price of admission for this alone was worth it!

We laughed that the only animal we didn’t see in their enclosure was the moose. We have seen lots of Moose, on both coasts of the country, and thought how funny it would have been if we had seen the moose and not the bears.

We pulled into Hope close to 3:30 and were all hungry. We made a U-Turn (because you know about Merrick road trips) after passing a sign for The Dirty Skillet, a restaurant I had read about. We grabbed a seat outside, under a pavilion, and enjoyed the fire pit that warmed us from the center of the table. We ordered some apps and each got a burger with fries then split a bowl of homemade chocolate /coffee ice cream topped with a bourbon caramel sauce- everything was delicious!

After linner (because that’s what it ended up being) We drove further down the road into historic Homer. Wow! Is this place charming! So many buildings were made from square cut logs and most had historic plaques marking them – the earliest I saw was 1890’s. We parked at the end of Main Street and walked over to Resurrection Creek to watch the locals fishing for salmon- a seriously entertaining endeavor!

On our ride back, we stopped to see if we could catch a glimpse of the bore tide that was predicted to be pretty good. The wind was honking and the drizzle still spitting making it difficult to stand and wait and watch; but that is just what we did… to no avail. We definitely saw some surfable waves but the actual bore tide wave eluded us.

A few things we have noticed about driving in Alaska, since we have already covered close to 800 miles: the highways are completely litter free and except for one poor porcupine, we have not seen any roadkill. In all my travels back and forth to Greer, I can safely bet that in 800 miles of highway I have seen dozens of roadkills. And funny thing is 1 mile seems a lot longer to travel here than back home – still trying to figure that one out…

By the time we got back to the cabin it was close to 8:30. The rain had stopped but the clouds were still thick as a woolen blanket and the wind was still at it. We had no choice but to turn the heat on to get the chill out of the cabin and out of our bones.

Tomorrow is our last day for the coast, unless we end up making a serious detour for a few hours to Valdez later on. We have loved being on the water and the Kenai Peninsula is simply stunning. I remember having conversations with people about why we love Patagonia so much, as it is still so wild and a few of them retorting, “Well then, have you been to Alaska?” I get it now. I totally get it.

Aug 10 – Wait…what?

Another rainy morning with cloud layers so low we felt like we could reach out and touch them. We enjoyed a rather leisurely morning, sipping coffee and eating oatmeal and cereal for breakfast

We left around 10:00, giving ourselves plenty of time to check in for our six hour wildlife cruise through Kenai Fjord National Park with Major Marine. As we got closer to Seward there was more blue sky visible and by the time we arrived there was more blue than clouds! Yay, I thought. We are going to have a fantastic day for the boat ride. But, as I was waiting to check in, I overheard one of the agents talking about 14 foot waves and 30 knot winds. Wait…what? When I reached the desk and asked her if she was talking about today’s forecast she said yes, and they were suggesting everyone take dramamine.

When I approached Jenny and Billy with the forecast, Billy quickly shot me down as, “not happening!” I will agree that 14 foot waves and 30 knot winds on open seas did not sound overly appealing.

We walked along the harbor and began putting a new plan into motion.

We decided we would head out to the only spot that has vehicle access to Kenai Fjords National Park to check out Exit Glacier. We discussed hiking the Harding Icefield Trail, a grueling 4 mile trek to the end that climbs 1,000 feet per mile, estimated to take 6-8 hours. But once up there you have views of the entire Harding Icefield.

So with our plan in place we decided that first off we needed sustenance. Choice #1 closed, choice #2 Billy rejected, Choice #3, a creperie, was open but the kitchen was backed up and we had a bit of a wait. Turned out the wait was worth it as the food was delicious and the lady who owned it was very interesting, having raised 30 kids! And she had been a swim coach and coached Lydia Jacoby’s swim coach – Lydia is from Seward. We loved seeing all the signs everywhere cheering her on and congratulating her – such an amazing story!

Our first views of Exit Glacier from a viewpoint along the highway, were amazing, looking far across a rocky floodplain to the glacier pouring down over the tops of the mountains.

As we began the trek, Jenny said she didn’t know if she was mentally prepared for it, still suffering from her cold (we covid tested her again), and feeling the beginnings of a headache. Billy said we would just go as far as we wanted then turn around, I said if we had no plans on getting to the top then we should just take another trail where we could actually see the glacier as this trail was in the trees. Billy said we should stick to the plan.

Fifteen minutes in and we peeled a layer, ten minutes later we peeled a second layer, another ten minutes and we were down to our final layers. We had dressed for cold windy weather and to be out on a boat, Billy didn’t have his hiking shoes on, I had on polartec fleece pants and only Jenny was dressed for the conditions we were in. About .75 miles up the trail, huffing and puffing from the climb and our hefty packs, Billy said he was out and we were headed back. “Oh no we are not. I didn’t just kick my ass to not even get a glimpse of the glacier up close. I am going the next 3/4 miles to the first viewpoint. You can turnaround,” I said. And so on we trudged- up, up, up, and it wasn’t just incline it was like stair stepping up the rocks. But once we reached Marmot Meadows the views were incredible of not only the glacier but of the valley.

We took a long rest and when I suggested we should try to get to the next viewpoint another mile up, Jenny was game but Billy flat out rejected it. The skies were almost completely clear, the views would have been incredible but we headed back down. At the time I thought it was the right decision, all for one, but in hindsight Jenny and I should have gone; she was game and this was her trip.

Pulling out of the jam-packed parking lot we got a good chuckle at the fact that in almost any other national park there would be license plates from just about all 50 states represented. In Alaska? Only two were from outside of Alaska! There were also a handful of U-Hauls, a result of the car rental shortage that is happening- desperate times call for desperate measures, so they say!

After our hike we stopped for a well earned gelato and then took a few detours down either side of Resurrection Bay, as far as we could drive on each side. We parked the car down at Lowell Point and walked out onto the black sand beach- a true beach. The day had cleared completely and we were finally able to see the true majesty of where we were.

Jenny asked me if I thought this was the prettiest place we had ever been, and now seeing it in all its glory I said, “We have seen a lot of mountains in all our travels, but none of them were as grand as this.” She turned and said, “Well, I think it is the most beautiful place we have ever been. There. I said it! Even more beautiful than Switzerland!”

I told her I was so happy to hear her say that because when we rebooked Alaska Jenny had no plans to go to Switzerland but an unexpected opportunity came up and she spent a week in Switzerland hiking the gorgeous Alps; so I had been concerned that Alaska would not be as awe inspiring to her after that but apparently I was dead wrong!

We made one last stop on our return to the cabin, at the Bear Creek fish weir that sometimes the bears hang out at. Unfortunately, there were no bears but we were entertained watching the trout trying to jump the waterfall.

We also got to talking with a young guy from Germany who had gone to Mexico and spent the required 14 days there so he could get into the US. He had planned on hiking 1500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail but had only gotten around 800 when it was closed due to the Dixie Fire so he decided to switch plans and come to Alaska for the remainder of his time. We gave him a ride back to the highway junction, wished him well and then headed to the cabin.

The setting this evening was perfection. Clear blue skies and not a breath of air, so I decided to take full advantage of it by getting a fire going in the fire pit. Billy barbecued dinner and then went to bed while Jenny and I stayed up sitting at the fire pit until well past 10:00 enjoying the beautiful sunset, roasting marshmallows and talking. She was clearly disappointed we didn’t try for the top today. I promised her if the weather holds out I will go back and do the full hike with her tomorrow.

August 9- Totally Alaskan

We woke to blue skies, a first!… that quickly turned cloudy… We packed up and caught the 9:00 ferry back over to Homer to get our car and pick up our bear spray.

Mission accomplished, we headed north. We were able to catch a somewhat cloud obscured view of the volcanoes across Cook Inlet.

Looking at a map we detoured along a side road thinking we would have a nice view of Cook Inlet but instead, it was blocked by trees. We did, however, find a moose on the side of the road happily grazing away on the thick vegetation- totally Alaskan!

By the time we reached Soldotna, we were very hungry so we decided to forgo all other plans in order to grab lunch. St Elias Brewery was choice #3 after choice #1 & 2 were closed and it did not disappoint. Our sandwiches were made using their pizza dough instead of rolls or wraps- so yummy!

From there we stopped at Fred Myer (basically a walmart super center) for some provisions. I have been in three different markets since we have been here and all three have the worst seafood selections I have ever seen – pretty surprising considering we are in Alaska.

After loading the car we drove back from the direction we had come, to the visitor center where we parked and walked down to the Kenai River. There were tons of people standing right on the edge of the river fishing for sockeye salmon.

We struck up a conversation with one of the locals and he explained how you fish for salmon. Unlike so many other species that you catch on lures or bait or flies, sockeye won’t take any of those, instead, we were told while they swim they are opening and closing their mouth so you throw a hook with a weight out into the water and, as the local put it, “try to floss them through their mouths.” If you snag them anywhere but their mouths, you must throw them back. Not surprisingly, Billy has zero interest in this kind of fishing! I will say it was crazy to see how many fish were being caught this way. One can only surmise that they were stacked in there like chord wood but because of the milky hue the Kenai River has, there is zero transparency to it to actually see them. This was a cool experience though – totally Alaskan!

As we made our way back to the car it began to rain and wouldn’t let up for the remainder of the day. We took another dirt side road in hopes of seeing bear but no luck. The views were pretty and again, we could only imagine they would be stunning if we could see them in their full glory. It has been a bit of a bummer that we know we are completely surrounded by majestic beauty but still haven’t been able to realize the full scope of it.

We made a few u-turns on our continuing drive – because remember it ain’t a Merrick road trip if we aren’t doing u-turns! First one was for a fly shop Billy saw – I think he is getting jazzed to start doing some trout fishing. The second was at a pull off that had two signs- one said “wildlife viewing” (a sign we are very familiar with seeing while road tripping), the other said “fish viewing” (a new one for us). There was a small trail that lead to a gin clear creek with a small viewing platform and in the creek were loads of bright red, ginormous, humpbacked, salmon with huge beaks. What a sight! We watched as they were clearly mating wondering why there were no bears here for these easy pickings but one must assume in a place like Alaska, everywhere has easy pickings! Another totally Alaskan sight!

We found the driveway for our lodging for the next three nights – a completely off the grid cabin right on the shore of Kenai Lake. When I went to the office to check in, the owner greeted me and gave me the lowdown on everything. The last thing he told me was how to reach him if there was an after hours emergency but then turned and said, “But please…no after hours emergencies.” To which I responded, “Oh, no worries. We don’t ever have after hour emergencies. Unless of course I run out of wine.” He chuckled and said, “Well then you will have to drive 20 miles to Seward.” But I assured him, “Oh not a chance I’d drive to Seward, if I run out of wine then I’ll break into the bourbon.” To which he had a good laugh.

We barbecued burgers for dinner on our little porch using a kettle grill and charcoal, something we haven’t done in 27 years, and sat at the table looking out at the lake. After dinner Billy decided to try his hand at fishing while Jenny and I played a game of cribbage. The throwback to simple times was really quite enjoyable. In all the crazy remote places we have ever stayed in, I don’t think we have ever had zero connectivity to the outside world… totally Alaskan!

Jenny loves our little cabin, the best accommodations so far she said (even with the total lack of wifi). She got the big bed in the loft up the spiral staircase (she said the stairs remind her of her apartment in Maastricht), and Billy and I took the bunk beds downstairs (nearer the bathroom – 😉) I figured that at 50 years old, it was about time for me to finally see what it’s like to sleep in the top bunk!

Aug 5 – We Found the People

After more than a year’s delay, we are finally able to take Jenny’s high school graduation trip to Alaska. This trip was planned with adventure in mind while traversing a large portion of central Alaska over the course of 2 1/2 weeks. We, but Jenny especially, are disappointed that Thies could not join us as originally planned but with the borders still not open to vaccinated Europeans… well… don’t get me started!

Our flight to Alaska wasn’t as bad as I had originally planned on it being. We didn’t get the upgrade I was hoping for but we were able to move up to seats with extra legroom and seeing as this was a 787, it allowed for far more comfort. The flight time was also and hour and a half shorter than it had posted so that was a huge boon! But the best part of it was the adorable golden retriever on her maiden flight that was seated in the row in front of us; Jenny and I just couldn’t get enough of her!

Starting about 45 minutes before landing, we started getting glimpses of mountain peaks jutting out above the clouds. The skies were very hazy mixed in with sparse clouds so the view wasn’t perfect but the sheer immensity of this place struck us as the mountains never let up, even until landing at Ted Stevens International Airport.

I grabbed a taxi to go get our car rental while Billy and Jenny secured our luggage. Perfect timing as they were just walking out of the terminal when I pulled up. We immediately put an order in for pizza and beer to go from Moose’s Tooth Pizza, we checked in to our fairly worn out room at TownPlace Suites (this was the best redemption on points I have booked as the room was $360 a night, and I would have been pissed if we spent that on this room); we chowed dinner at 11:00 and then all abruptly fell asleep.

This morning I thought it best to fuel up for our drive so stopping for lunch wouldn’t be necessary. we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Snow City Cafe, a place that gets great reviews, leaving perfectly satiated!

After breakfast Jenny and I went to Walmart to pick up the order we had placed on line last night and then on to Costco for bear spray and a few more snacks to last the trip.

After getting everything organized in the car, we were ready to hit the road at 11:00AM. We all decided that there wasn’t much in Anchorage that would lure us back but that’s the case for us for most cities in the US.

The drive out of Anchorage was spectacular, as far as one could see. unfortunately, there was a heavy layer of low-lying clouds that obscured most of the tops of the mountains on both sides of Turnagin Arm, a narrow waterway branching off of Cook Inlet. It was low tide so the mudflats were the main attraction, dashing any hopes of seeing the whales that give Beluga Point its name.

As we drove further south, the clouds lifted more and by the time we crossed over onto the Kenai Peninsula, we could see the mountains across Cook Inlet, including what we realized was the top of Denali, but only after we had passed the viewpoint for it!

We only made two stops on the four plus hour drive to Homer- one at a viewpoint and the other at a Russian Orthodox Church on the hill above Ninilchik.

The church was built in 1901 and sits on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet. Its gardens and graveyard are a bit overgrown but that only added to its mystique.

The views dropping down into Homer were breathtaking, we can only imagine what they look like on a blue bird day. As we crossed over to the Homer Spit we were immediately struck by mobs of tourists in a fairly honky tonk area – the kind of scene we typically avoid at all costs. In all my research, Homer had been described as a cute artsy town, the sort of place Jenny loves – this is definitely not that.

We found the business that we rented our room from for the next two nights. The clerk told us to follow him as he walked us over the boardwalk, pushing our way through people standing in line waiting for a local popular restaurant to open. Ugh we thought as we walked on – this was not the image I had imagined nor researched.

Turning a corner, we were finally away from the crowds. The clerk opened a nondescript door and we were immediately blown away with the setting and the view! We were smack dab on the beach, in a cute room furnished in a chic beach vibe with a small kitchenette and a large balcony. We could not hear nor see the hordes of tourists on the other side and except for the occasional beach stroller, we felt like we had the place all to ourselves. We absolutely loved it!

Just a few days ago, a very large earthquake struck off Kodiak Island (Just south of Homer); sirens blared and all of Homer that sits at sea level was told to evacuate due to tsunami warning. Obviously where our rental is, is a prime area for being washed away by a tsunami so fingers crossed, we will not see anymore seismic activity anytime soon!

For the next couple hours. we hung out, relaxing and enjoying the view. We ended our evening with a delicious dinner at Little Mermaid before turning in and calling it a night, with all the daylight that is still to be found in August in Alaska!

Aug 6- We Now Have Friends in Alaska

The day we left for our trip, Billy sent word to his sales force that he was going to be in Alaska and as such might be out of cell phone/wifi range for an uncertain amount of time. One of Billy’s sales guys responded. asking him if there was any chance we would be in Homer as his sister and her husband lived there, and he was sure they would love to show us around. Flash forward to today…

After a quick breakfast of cereal and coffee in our room, we walked over to the boat basin to meet up with Courtney and her husband Kevin. We were immediately struck by the inclination the ramp down to the water was at along with the height of the pilings that hold the floating docks – holy cow, both were extraordinary.

Cortney, Kevin, and their two adorable labs – Trip (a chocolate lab) and Trigger (a yellow lab), welcomed us onboard their vessel “Hooked Up” for what turned out to be a fabulous day experiencing parts of Alaska a bit more off the beaten path.

Our morning began with a smooth ride across Kachemak Bay where we beached the bow of the boat to offload us and the pups. Kevin moored the boat and then rowed back to shore with the dinghy where he proceeded to tie it up as far up the beach as possible. (At the time I thought it a bit odd and that perhaps he was trying to make it difficult for someone to abscond with it).

The hike off the beach began with a set of stairs but we hadn’t even gotten to the first landing before there was a warning sign posted about recent bear activity. Upon reading it, Kevin turned around and quickly remarked, “the brown bears had finally made it here.” Up until very recently the only bears that were in this part of Alaska were black bears, but…apparently not anymore. The good news is that between the firearms and the bear spray we were carrying, we were prepared!

Following the stairs, we encountered a series of switchbacks that climbed the cliffs overlooking the magnificent Halibut Cove, with views that were just spectacular.

Along the trail Courtney pointed out all the different berries that were growing and warned us to steer clear of the “Devils Club” that lined the trail as the thorns of it would quickly embed themselves into your skin if it came into contact with you. The vegetation was beyond dense with a variety of native plants packed in as tightly as fans at Lollapalooza; the perfect hiding place for bears I thought…Oh and the pile after pile of bear scat we passed on the foot-wide trail, only confirmed the fact we were deep into bear country. Had we attempted this hike alone, without Kevin and Courtney leading the way, I am certain I would have turned around after encountering 3 large, fairly-fresh piles within 100 feet.

As we hiked on, we enjoyed easy conversation exchanging stories on various topics, and appreciated hearing perspectives from local Alaskans. The trail leveled off and then slowly began its descent into what seemed to be an ancient riverbed.

We hiked on until BAM!, we literally walked out into an opening with an iceberg filled lake that stretched back to the magnificent Grewingk Glacier pouring down out of the mountains above. Wow, wow, wow!

We sat and took it all in for a bit, relishing the beauty and solitude of the area. At one point, we heard what sounded like a large thunder clap but Kevin insisted there is rarely thunder in this part of Alaska, We pondered whether it had been the glacier calving on its face, some three miles from where we were standing. Not long after we were joking about which one of us could run quicker up the pebbled beach, Kevin pointed out that the previously statue-still lake, was now moving. We watched as the water line receded and then moved forward, receded again and moved a bit further forward, receded even farther and then moved a bit further inshore and so it went; another thunder clap followed minutes later by more wake movement – it was so cool but a bit unnerving at the same time.

Upon the return hike, we encountered a group of people that suggested we leash the dogs as there was a black bear sitting on the edge of the trail. Sure enough, as we rounded the exact corner they had said to anticipate it, there it was. Unfortunately, the vegetation was too thick to see much more than the outline of its head and ears but I suppose we were fortunate in that it left us alone!

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, it made sense why Kevin had tied the dinghy way up the beach the way he had – there was really no beach to be seen. Where just hours earlier there was at least thirty feet of exposed ground running from the tree line, now there was five feet; the tides in Alaska can be extreme., to say the least

We enjoyed a late lunch in Halibut Cove at The Saltry, a really cool restaurant built into the rock outcroppings of an island that had a large boardwalk elevated above the water, running along the waterline.

On the return trip to Homer, Billy was thrilled to see his first Alaskan puffin, as Kevin passed along a bird rookery. The ride home was a lot lumpier than the ride out but we had no problems. We headed to the Sawlty Dog to enjoy a few beers with Courtneey and Kevin before saying our goodbyes.

Today was such a nice, unexpected adventure. We enjoyed every minute of it but the best part of it is… we can now say, we have friends in Alaska!

August 7- Our Kind of Place

Most of the incredible vistas have had some form of cloud layer blocking theme since we arrived, but late last evening Mount Iliamna popped out, standing tall in all of her 10,016’ glory. So this morning, it was a real treat to see the entire Kenai mountain range sitting across Kachemak Bay allowing us to finally have a good perspective on what has been hiding all this time.

This morning we were switching locations and had planned on heading to Seldovia, a town located across Kachemak Bay from Homer but that is only accessible by a 45 minute ferry ride or a 15 minute plane flight. I of course, had planned on the ferry ride, because as we all know, I avoid small planes at all costs!

We packed up our stuff, rearranging our bags so we would only have one duffel for the three of us, along with the cooler and a dry goods bag. The ferry was at 11:00 but since we didn’t have tickets yet (when I tried to book them two months ago they told me no need to, I should just get them the morning of), I pushed for us to leave a bit earlier.

We arrived at the ferry terminal, 45 minutes before the scheduled departure only to be told that the ferry was sold out but if I had already purchased my tickets, we would be good to go. Wait…what? They had insisted months ago I didn’t need to pre-buy and now they are telling me that they are sold out. Oh, yeah, and all the other boat charters are also sold out, but they very kindly offered to put us on the next ferry…at 6:30, seven and a half hours later. Uhm…I don’t think so. Time was of the essence so I had no choice but to resort to option two…and I assure you, I shuddered as I suggested it…we would fly.

While we were standing there discussing it, another couple who had been behind us in line, and subsequently denied tickets as well, overheard us talking about our options. When they heard us talking about flying they were eager to join in. I called the “airline” and they confirmed that they indeed had space for exactly five people. How perfect right? five seats were left. Nope. Not that. There were five seats because there was nobody else scheduled on that flight; meaning….the aircraft only holds five passengers…Lord help me!

Tony and Lori were a cute couple in their late sixties I would think. He asked us where we were from and when we said Connecticut, he told us they were from Florida but he had grown up in Westport, CT and in Essex as well. We laughed telling him that’s where we lived, it turns out I knew, and had done some volunteer work with, his late mother.

OK, so we now had a way to Seldovia but logistically we had to figure out where to leave our car as we would be returning to Homer by ferry in two days and then we had to figure how to get to the cottage from the airport in Seldovia as I knew it was right off from the boat ferry terminal, not the airport. The airline agent said it would be best to leave our car at the ferry terminal as they didn’t really offer parking for more than one night; so that’s what we did.

Upon checking in with the airline, Jenny immediately noticed a sign that said we could not travel with our bear spray (both Jenny and I had it in our backpacks). The agent suggested we leave it in our car but I reminded her she told us to leave our car at the ferry terminal so we didn’t have our car. Needless to say, we are hoping our bear spray is waiting for us at the terminal when we return and, more importantly, that we don’t need it in our hike tomorrow!

Billy watched as the plane landed, a single engine, 1970s era Cessna 207. He laughed that the plane came in “hot” and laughed even louder when he saw a young female pilot hop out. Did I mention that she was young? Like very young?

Turns out Brittany was hot shit. She has been flying six years, so we are guessing she got her license at 18 years. She said she flies roundtrip to Seldovia nine times a day. We were going to be the first leg of today’s fifth run. She was quick to try and put my mind at ease assuring me we had perfect flying weather and we would only be off the ground for 12 minutes.

So, I will admit it…the flight over was incredible; the views were spectacular and I was happy to fulfill Jenny’s wish to fly in an Alaskan bush plane. I told her that I thought she had secretly sabotaged us for the ferry so we would have no choice but to fly, even if it wasn’t quite the full bush plane experience she was looking for.

We landed in Seldovia, were quickly offloaded and pointed in the direction of town, Brittany assuring us that our two legs were more than capable of getting us there. So, we schlepped our bags and cooler the 1/2 mile to the village and found our adorable cottage sitting right on the water.

We dumped our stuff, grabbed an excellent lunch, headed back to the cottage and chilled the rest of the day and night, watching the otters play and catch fish. Jenny just loves them, she says they remind her of Lucky.

Seldovia is a super quaint, artsy, laidback, beautiful village with a great vibe. When we asked our host for the key, she said she doesn’t have one. The kids and dogs run free and wild, the locals clearly look out for one another and lend a hand to lost tourists who are schlepping their sh*t through town 🙂 This is our kind of place!

August 8 – Solitude…

We woke to a steady rain today, the first of our trip. When we were trying to figure out what month to travel in, we decided on August even though we read it would be rainier but it is supposed to be less buggy than June/July – a worthy tradeoff Jenny had said. We also woke to Jenny feeling crummy. We knew she had been fighting something and even though we are all vaccinated, we covid tested her yesterday before we came to Seldovia and were given a negative result (of course we hope its accurate but we have still been taking all the precautions of masks and distancing etc).

We had a good laugh over coffee, talking about the seagulls that seemed to call all night and them moving around on the metal roof but especially since it sounded as though they were using the roof as a means to crack open their shellfish!

Our plan today was to hike the Otter Bahn trail out to an area called Outside Beach where I had read extensively about the tide pooling opportunities there at low tide. Today was the lowest tide there would be of our trip, minus 2.0 feet below mean low tide – creating a 20 foot tide swing, so the tidepools were said to be great.

The trail was basically through a coastal rainforest with extremely dense vegetation of giant ferns and loads of salmon berries. We called out often to the bears we knew were lurking in the woods but were relieved, since our bear spray was sitting at the airport in Homer, that we never came across any scat on this trail, unlike the last hike where we easily walked over 20 piles. The trail was a bit longer than described but it was beautiful, and we were the only ones on it.

Emerging on Outside Beach, we encountered a black beach (really rocks and pebbles), on a cove with two peninsulas jutting out on both sides. There was a creek rushing down across the beach, well actually two, the second was wild in that it just disappeared into the ground not making it the extra few feet to the ocean’s edge.

We made our way towards the area that looked like it should be tide pools, only to be disappointed that we could find almost nothing. A few anemones, a pygmy rock crab that was bright purple in color, a few cool snails, and one minuscule sucker fish like the one Jenny used to have in her fish tank and how the heck she spotted it, I have no idea. I felt especially badly for Jenny as she made the trek not feeling well only because she loves the tide pools and everything I had read said we should see starfish, octopus, sunstars, sea cucumbers, etc., but there was nothing of the sort.

We had also read this morning that it was a great beach for collecting sea glass but again, we didn’t find one piece. I will say this for all of the Alaska coastlines we have been on, there is not a single solitary item of garbage – nothing, zilch, nada! I am shocked that with the huge fisheries there are here that there is not a ton of fishing detritus washed up everywhere. We haven’t seen a piece of plastic anything, anywhere… if only the waterways of Cambodia could be so lucky.

What Outside Beach lacked in beachcombing it more than made up for in solitude and ambience. We were the only ones there and it certainly gave you that remote Alaska feel.

We decided we should head back as the break in the rain we had been lucky enough to enjoy up until this point, was rapidly coming to an end. The mountains were quickly disappearing before our eyes and by the time we made it on to the road for the walk back, the rain began to fall. Walking back along the road, Jenny said she was having deja vu – hiking in the rain, feeling like crap – she had pushed through the same situation in Peru a few years ago but that time was burning with fever – let’s hope that is not to come.

Back in the village, we decided to get some food – first place closed on Sundays, second place coffee and pastry only, third place doesn’t do breakfast, fourth place -a coffee shop- was open and their menu said they had breakfast sandwiches. We put an order in for three but were quickly told it had been a busy morning and they only had enough left to make one sandwich. OK, how about a decaf latte and a cappuccino – they had no decaf (and apparently I was only the third person to ask for decaf so far this year) and did Jenny want that cappuccino “dry or wet?” Uhm… the girl had completely stumped us. Dry or wet? Apparently dry is more foam, less liquid and wet is more liquid less foam-Jenny drinks a lot of coffee and has done so in A LOT of places and this was a first for her.

Our last hope was the food truck and wouldn’t you know – ding ding ding -it was the winner! We grabbed some breakfast sandwiches and an order of biscuits and gravy to take back to the cottage (hey, don’t judge! We had just hiked a few miles and remember it was cold and rainy). By the time we were back inside, it was pouring and we were glad to have arrived back before the deluge.

Another break in the rain and I decided to take a small walk. I was in search of the bright red salmon Billy said he had seen looking over from the bridge last evening. The bridge over the Seldovia Slough is probably 30 feet high at dead low tide and 15 feet high at high tide. Yesterday, as we were walking to town from the airport, I looked over one side and about 30 feet below I could see monstrous salmon holding themselves in place. A local kid hear me and walked over, looked down and dropped his fishing line that had a large, round, orange lure on the end (it looked like a huge bobber). I thought there wasn’t a chance in hell he would catch anything as he plopped it right on their noses, but wouldn’t you know it – BAM! The smallest salmon (which was larger than any trout we have ever caught) snatched it right up. The kid let out some line, ran over to the stairs, climbed down and claimed his prize. It was one of the craziest fishing scenes I have ever witnessed!

The rest of the day was spent playing cribbage and backgammon and reading. The rain finally stopped around 7:00 and the sun popped out for a brief time. Seeing as Jenny was not feeling great, the rain was a bit of a godsend as it allowed us to not feel pressured to keep exploring.

Seldovia is a really neat town. I love how so many of the houses are uniquely and creatively decorated, many with carved wooden sculptures, rich in detail – there is definitely a lot of character here. The cottage we are staying in is over a nursery/gift/curio store that has something to look at no matter which direction you turn. The town has loads of public parks all planted with beautiful flowers with spots for sitting and relaxing. There is an air of peacefulness and solitude here, almost like any other place we have ever been- even the seagulls knocking on the roof didn’t disrupt it!

Scenes from around town:

March 1 & 2

Buda and Pest makes Budapest

Not a whole lot to tell but wanted to share some pics and this is the easiest way to do it.

We arrived in the rain, with forecast of continued rain until we left so we figured it was going to be limited sightseeing. Our dinner was at Monk’s Bistrot, a very highly rated restaurant but when we entered at 7:00, we were the only ones there. The owner said he thought it was because of the coronavirus- that people were not going out, even though Hungry has yet to have a confirmed case. Nonetheless, our dinner was delicious and we enjoyed the views of the castle area lit up at night.

It cracked us up because so many people thought we were nuts for going to Turkey and Jordan but the biggest threat seemed to be in Budapest as a large protest with extensive police presence, including plenty in riot gear, passed by the front of our hotel!

The following morning we woke to rainy skies but were all up earlier than expected. When we finished breakfast and stepped outside, the rain had stopped and some blue sky was poking through!

We made our way along to our first stop, “Shoes along the Danube,” a memorial to the Jewish citizens of Budapest, lost to the holocaust. Jenny couldn’t understand how people could smile and have their pictures taken next to this heart wrenching memorial – obviously clueless in its meaning.

From there we walked around the Parliamemt where we considered a tour but the next one was an hour later and confined inside with a large group of people crammed together – we took a pass but enjoyed the immense grandeur of the behemoth.

About this time, we had kept watching a tram going by and noticed on the map that it went near to the areas we were headed. After some difficulties securing tickets, we figured it out and hopped on – for two stops before it terminated. Oops!! Off we got and looked closer at the map finally figuring out the routes; we mastered it for the rest of the day!

Our next stop was to the Buda side of the river to the famed Castle Area. It was a beautiful historical area that we enjoyed walking around and the only area where there were crowds.

We continued walking from there further along the Castle Area until we decided to head back down as Jenny wanted the iconic picture of the Parliament Building (that is located on the Pest side, from the Buda side).

Our stroll continued, including a nice stop for lunch.

Crossing back over to Buda we went to the Market hall in search of a famed chimney cake , a cinnamon sugar stack of yumminess!

So after 8.7 miles, we called it a day. Too tired to make our dinner reservation, we ate in the hotel and were all asleep by 8:30 to get as much rest as possible for our long trek back home tomorrow – hopefully an uneventful one!

We enjoyed Budapest a lot. Thought it a beautiful city, at least what we saw of it but felt a bit of that cold personality like we experienced in Latvia and Lithuania. It was though, a nice stopover and we are glad we took the time to see it!